HAIR: the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical

In April 1968, the musical HAIR took the Broadway stage by storm, leaving quite a controversial aftermath behind. “HAIR: the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical” brings to life the counter-culture of the 1960’s and 70’s through the story of Claude, Sheila, Berger, and their hippie friends living in New York City during the Vietnam War.

One of the musical’s biggest criticisms is that its plot line is not very sophisticated, but I think this is what makes it so intriguing. In most musicals, the songs help to tell the story and further the dialogue along; however, in HAIR, the songs mainly focus on portraying the essence of the hippie movement: their values, morals, style, way of life. (Even if the songs did not touch on hippie sexuality, the choreography alone would suffice– not only are the dance moves suggestive and provocative, but there is a song where the entire cast stands naked and sings.) So rather than explaining events that are happening to the characters within the context of the musical, the songs explain the lifestyle that the characters are living in and illustrating the effects of a large-scale problem on a small group of people, representative of an entire movement. To understand what I mean, let’s take a look at the lyrics. (All the music was written by Galt MacDermot and Tom Pierson.)

The songs “Air” and “Hashish” establish the acceptance and widespread usage of drugs throughout hippie culture. “Hare Krishna” does this as well as introduce the influence that Eastern religions played in forming hippie ideals. Here are the lyrics to Air:

Welcome, sulfur dioxide
Hello, carbon monoxide
The air, the air
Is everywhere

In the song “Where Do I Go?,” the lyrics convey the restlessness and disillusionment that led so many young people to join in on the hippie movement and continued to drive many young people to find a purpose in fighting back against what they viewed as an unjust war. (Read the lyrics here.)

In the songs “Electric Blues” and “The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In),” bring to life the distrust of the government and its abuses:

[from Electric Blues]

They chain ya and brainwash ya
When you least suspect it
They feed ya mass media
The age is electric

[from Let the Sunshine In]

We starve- look at one another
Short of breath
Walking proudly in our winter coats
Wearing smells from laboratories
Facing a dying nation
Of moving paper fantasy
Listening for the new told lies
With supreme visions of lonely tunes.

Sadly, the 2009 revival of HAIR is no longer on Broadway, but there is a 1979 film adaptation that I enjoyed just as much! There is much more of a plot to the movie, which makes sense considering there can’t be people handing out flowers and dancing over audience members in the film version. I definitely recommend checking it out, or just listening to the music!